The Book of Boba Fett episode 7 review: "A messy, missed opportunity"

Warning: This is the Way to our The Book of Boba Fett episode 6 review which contains spoilers – turn around to go in completely clean!

The Book of Boba Fett has come to an end. The once-mysterious bounty hunter finally sits upon Jabba’s throne and has complete control of Mos Espa. The Pyke Syndicate has been defeated, its leaders murdered by Fennec Shand. Cad Bane is dead. Cobb Vanth is alive. And Din Djarin’s now flying across the galaxy with The Artist Formerly Known As Baby Yoda. 

Rather than leave any dangling story threads, The Book of Boba Fett neatly ties everything in a neat bow – leaving just enough space for Din and Grogu to take off on their upcoming adventure in The Mandalorian season 3. Yet, despite the resolutions, the finale feels underwhelming. Worse yet, the episode has been outright overshadowed by the previous appearances of Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. Even Han Solo’s rumored cameo that never came to fruition would have struggled to compensate for this episode’s overlong, poorly staged action sequences.

At least Boba Fett actually shows up. There have been staunch defenders of the series who argue that the title refers to the “Book” of Boba Fett – and books, of course, have different chapters. However, there are few books titled after leading characters that have such severe diversions from the main story, and fewer still that spend entire chapters with other characters. Any Star Wars fan who decided to skip out on Boba’s series will now be entirely confused when they turn on the third season of Mandalorian, thinking Grogu and Din have gone their separate ways. That arc has been wrapped, with Skywalker unceremoniously using R2-DHL to return the former Padawan back to his father.

That reunion should have played out in The Mandalorian, not in an episode of The Book of Boba Fett that’s focussed on wrapping Boba’s story. The emotional weight of seeing Grogu back with his surrogate father simply should have been so much more. Instead, I was distracted by the huge droids employed by the Pykes. Why can’t they hit anyone? Are they supposed to be worse shots than Stormtroopers? More worrying is the fact that Boba and Din – both trained killers – don’t understand that the force fields surrounding the machines are impervious to weapons. “Just keep shooting” is not a strong battle tactic.

The entire fight leaves more questions than answers. Why did director Robert Rodriguez decide the majority of the set-piece should take place down one small alleyway? Was Disney not willing to build more sets? The Space Mods (let’s not talk about that English accent), Black Krrsantan, and the people of Freetown are all crowded into the small location. When the group does run away (not smartly scattering in different directions), the killer droids slowly trudge along – then, a few seconds later, these beastly machines can keep up with Amy Sedaris' Peli Mot riding a droid carriage. What?

Boba saves the day while riding a Rancor. We are witnessing this iconic character atop an iconic beast – the visuals should have been spectacular, but they are murky and there’s no singular money shot. Considering there was one, singular Ranor tease a few episodes back when Danny Trejo made an appearance, the moment struggles to feel satisfying. Where was the buildup? No doubt, that partly comes down to the last few episodes taking the focus away from the eponymous character and giving the reins to Din Djarin.

When Mando does take center stage, the show shines. The last two episodes have been the best parts of the Book of Boba Fett, and here, when Mando’s back with Grogu – as much as I would have liked the moment to take place without havoc happening in the background – things get emotional. As Grogu settles the Rancor down, there’s no denying that that’s the show we should have been watching all along – Grogu and Mando on their adventures. Indeed, considering the final sequence of the entire series (minus the post-credits scene) is Grogu and Mando together, it feels like the showrunners would have rather been making another season of The Mandalorian.

The Book of Boba Fett ends up feeling like a missed opportunity. The flashbacks were decent in places, but they failed to build up any momentum for the “present-day” story. Boba’s encounter with Cad Bane in the finale feels more like the beginning of an exciting rivalry than a deathly end to one – yes, they have a past relationship established through other Star Wars media, but that could have been used as a starting point for a long-running, strategic, tense rivalry that played out across an entire series.

Boba’s motivations have also been constantly unclear (why does he keep saying the people of Mos Espa are his people? He’s from Kamino!) and his allies have been underutilized, particularly Fennec Shand, who has barely any character development. In this episode, she’s relegated to being an exposition machine before going missing for half an hour, only to return and kill Boba’s rival leader. Surely, that conclusion, wiping out the heads of multiple rival gangs, should have been a Godfather-like scene, carefully planned by Boba?

Mando not only saves the series but makes The Book of Boba Fett an essential watch for Star Wars fans wanting to understand the wider universe. Considering how messy the finale is, it’s a blessing that Boba’s story threads are wrapped, I’m not sure I could spend much more time on Tatooine. Luke Skywalker once told R2-D2: "If there’s a bright center to the universe, you’re on the planet that it’s farthest from." Let’s hope we don’t have to return to this dusty planet anytime soon. Unless it’s for a podracing series. Give me that podracing series, Disney!

If you want to know even more about what's coming to that galaxy far, far away, then read our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows heading your way soon.